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| A foodie
at work |
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Food is the spice of life, especially life in
Singapore. Much to the envy of others, Ms Leung
Wai Ling from SPRING Singapore gets to work
with food gurus and be one of the first to learn
of new products and trends in the food business!
Wai Ling is Director of the Food Division,
part of SPRING’s Enterprise
Development Group.
“We are looking to help our food
manufacturers and food and beverage (F&B)
companies become bigger and better enterprises.
But we cannot do this alone. Not only do we work
closely with the industry players and industry
associations, we also work together with other
government agencies to jointly help grow
Singapore’s food industry,” she said.
Just what does it take for a food business to make
it in Singapore?
Wai Ling said: “An F&B guru once shared the key
success factors: First is location -- you must find
the right place. Next is culinary -- the food must
be good. The third is delivering an acceptable level
of service, if not exceeding the expectations of
the consumer. And the last but not least, is ambience.
Increasingly, consumers are looking for a total
dining experience.”
Wai Ling hopes to fuel a vibrant and competitive
food industry in Singapore. With some 4,400 F&B
outlets across the island (this number excludes
food court and hawker stalls), she certainly has
plenty on
her plate.
Since her team was set up, it has touched base with
over 100 F&B companies and food manufacturers. She
shared: “It’s exciting to know the people behind
successful F&B concepts such as Andrew Tjioe from
Tung Lok and Douglas Foo from Sakae Sushi. We get
to understand what makes them tick, the journey
they have gone through, their aspirations and issues
they face.”
From there, her team will find ways to provide
assistance. For example, one common problem
F&B players face is a lack of skilled manpower.
Wai Ling works with the Workforce Development
Agency and industry associations to identify the
skill gaps and training programmes needed, as well
as to develop benchmarks.
Her team also helps local companies to
streamline their operations and improve their
efficiency by adopting technology. For instance, she
worked with Colours by the Bay, one of the first F&B
concepts to introduce a wireless point-of-sale and
cross ordering system across several restaurants.
And to help food businesses stay competitive, her
team organises overseas trips to expose F&B players
to new concepts, processes and service offerings that
can be adapted to suit the local context.
Wai Ling’s team is also involved in the Singapore
Premium Food Gifts Programme, which was jointly
launched by SPRING, the Singapore Tourism Board
and the Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association
in 2002.
The programme helps to upgrade the
capabilities of Singapore-based food companies
so that they can create quality food gifts that
meet export quality standards and market them
under the Singapore brand. This helps our food
manufacturers to move into higher value products
and also capture the promising tourist market.
A wide selection of local favourites like bak
kuah, freeze-dried Pulau Ubin prawns and chicken
rice sauces has been put into beautifully designed
gift boxes to give the world a taste of Singapore.
The premium food gifts have also been popular among
locals.
“This programme has created much awareness and started
many other food manufacturers and restaurants thinking
about bottling their sauces and packaging their
signature food products.” she enthused.
Always on the lookout for F&B establishments to
work with and eager to help them improve, Wai
Ling will not hesitate to walk right up to a
restaurant owner to introduce herself, especially
if she is impressed with the restaurant.
She even “confesses” to playing the role of
mystery shopper every time she dines out.
“Whenever I go out to eat, I tend to put on my
SPRING cap unconsciously,” she said. I’d be
thinking ‘the service needs improvement’ or ‘the
food is not consistent’ or ‘the turnaround time
was impressive’.” If Wai Ling knows the
entrepreneur, she would volunteer her feedback.
Her passion to see food businesses grow is
what keeps her going. Although the job can be
very stressful at times, she enjoys the challenges.
In fact, every successful attempt to help F&B
players whets her appetite for even more
opportunities to do what she can to enable food
businesses to thrive and the industry to grow! |
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